_Point of view is everything. The stranger finds a place charming because everything in it is old, and quiet reigns supreme. Quietude and antiquity, how eminently desirable and delightful when found, he thinks. Not so the dweller in such a spot. He would welcome as a benefactor any one who would rebuild his house in modern style, and would behold with satisfaction the traffic of Cheapside thronging the grass-grown market-place._
_No brief is held for such an one in these pages, nor is it likely that the professional antiquary will find in them anything not already known to him. The book, like all its predecessors, and like those that are to follow it, is intended for those who journey down the roads either in person or in imagination, and to their judgment it is left. In conclusion, let me acknowledge the valuable information with regard to Wiltshire afforded me by Cecil Simpson, Esq., than whom no one knows the county better._
1. THE LIONESS ATTACKING THE EXETER MAIL, ‘WINTERSLOW HUT.’ (_After James Pollard_) Frontispiece.
3. THE ‘REGULATOR’ ON HARTFORD BRIDGE FLATS 19
4. THE ‘QUICKSILVER’ MAIL:--‘STOP, COACHMAN, I HAVE LOST MY HAT AND WIG’ 23
5. THE WEST COUNTRY MAILS STARTING FROM THE GLOUCESTER COFFEE HOUSE, PICCADILLY. (_After James Pollard_) 35
7. THE WELLINGTON ARCH AND HYDE PARK CORNER, 1851 41
8. ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL, AND THE ROAD TO PIMLICO, 1780 43
17. SALISBURY CATHEDRAL. (_After Constable, R.A._) 171
18. VIEW OF SALISBURY SPIRE FROM THE RAMPARTS OF OLD SARUM 189
19. OLD SARUM. (_After Constable, R.A._) 193
20. THE GREAT SNOWSTORM OF 1836; THE EXETER ‘TELEGRAPH,’ ASSISTED BY POST-HORSES, DRIVING THROUGH THE SNOW-DRIFTS AT AMESBURY. (_After James Pollard_) 197
21. STONEHENGE (_After Turner, R.A._) 201
23. ANCIENT AND MODERN: MOTOR CARS AT STONEHENGE, EASTER 1899 213
25. THE EXETER ROAD, NEAR ‘WOODYATES INN’ 239
33. ‘THE LONG REACHES OF THE EXETER ROAD’ 301
List of Illustrations (Hartford Bridge Flats) xi
‘An Old Gentleman, a Cobbett-like Person’ 38
The Highwayman’s Retreat, the ‘Green Man’ 73
Interior of the ‘Queen’s Arms,’ Charmouth 295
London (Hyde Park Corner) to-- MILES Kensington-- St. Mary Abbots 1¼ Addison Road 2½
Brentford-- Star and Garter 6 Town Hall (cross River Brent and Grand Junction Canal) 7